Patch Management and Windows 7 / Server 2008 End of Support

Last Modified

Tue Jan 03 18:15 GMT 2022

Description

  • How will N-able N-central's Patch Management feature handle Windows 7 / Server 2008 End of Support?
  • Patch Management Engine compatibility with Windows 7 / 2008 devices and Extended Security Updates (ESU)

Environment

  • N-able RMM
  • N-able N-central
  • Patch Management
  • Microsoft Windows 7
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Solution

  • Microsoft is ending extended support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 on January 14, 2020
  • From this date, Microsoft will no longer publish updates or security updates to the normal update channels.
  • This means that no new OS patches will be shown in the RMM and N-able N-central patch status checks for most Windows 7 / Server 2008 devices
    • NOTE: Third party and Microsoft application patches are not affected.
  • Devices which have been enrolled to receive Extended Security Updates (ESU) will continue to receive patches, so Patch Management will be able to manage them.
  • Devices which have not been enrolled to receive Extended Security Updates (ESU) will continue to be supported up to the last patch released by Microsoft for those patches.
  • In both cases, the Windows Update Agent (WUA) looks for a Multiple Activation Key (MAK) on the endpoint to determine if patches are allowed to be installed.
    • If no active license is detected then Windows Update will not allow patch installation, which means Patch Management will not be able to install patches.
    • Licensed copies will be able to patch normally via ESU.
  • In all cases, the devices will need to meet the minimum requirements of the Windows Update Agent, including the Windows Operating System:
    • N-able RMM Documentation Link
    • N-able N-central Documentation Link
      • Please make special note of any minimum versions of the Windows Update Agent (WUA).
      • Also the OS needs to be supported, which for both RMM and N-able N-central Windows Server 2008 is not supported, it needs to be utilising Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, which is also detailed in the documentation links above